Despite Canada’s UN vote for a Gaza ceasefire, London, Ont. doctor continues to pressure local MP

As promised, London, Ont. doctor Tarek Loubani, who is coming off a 24-hour hunger strike, was back outside London North Center MP Peter Fragiskatos’ office.

This, despite Canada's vote at the United Nations (UN) assembly Tuesday to support a humanitarian ceasefire.

"The ongoing humanitarian crisis has weighed heavily in Canada’s decision to support this resolution," said Canada’s Ambassador to the UN Bob Rae on Tuesday.

Dr. Loubani said he welcomes Canada’s change of heart, but said it's too little, too late.

"There have been over 20,000 people killed, and we know that every hour, every day, counted. Canada's voice counted on day one, it counted yesterday, and really they should have come to this conclusion much sooner," said Dr. Loubani.

The London Health Sciences Center (LHSC) doctor and humanitarian activist has been protesting outside Fragiskatos’ constituency office for weeks now, asking the MP to call for a ceasefire.

Last month, Dr. Loubani was arrested and charged with one count of mischief after police said they observed him squirt ketchup on the exterior of the MP’s building.

"Peter Fragiskatos has still not come out and supported a ceasefire, the fact that the Prime Minister and the party has does not relieve him of his obligation to say, 'I want a ceasefire now,’” explained Dr. Loubani.

Fragiskatos said he agrees with the joint statement that Canada put forward yesterday, noting that up until now, there were no strict conditions attached to any call for ceasefire.

"The problem with calls for a ceasefire that have come until this point is that at no time did they attach conditions. And so that was always an issue that I had, very strong issue that I had, and that's one of the main reasons that I didn’t call for a ceasefire [earlier]," said Fragiskatos.

Loubani said they will continue to press Fragiskatos.

"What we need from Peter Fragiskatos is to recognize that his voice matters, and to recognize that he does not represent the population until he supports a ceasefire,” said Dr. Loubani.

In response, Fragiskatos said, "If we're going to have a conversation, this has to be respectful, this has to be civil.”